Australian Karl Vilips, a winner in Puerto Rico in just his fourth start on the PGA TOUR.
FOR Australian Karl Vilips, while it has seemingly happened very quickly, it’s also been a long time coming.
A child prodigy, who won two US Kids Championships at seven and nine years of age, then a Callaway Junior World Championship at 10, big things have long been predicted for the now 23-year-old who spent his formative years playing in Mandurah in WA, before moving to America as a teenager.
Now in just his fourth start on the PGA TOUR, Vilips has fulfilled the potential and expectations in winning the Puerto Rico Open.
After shooting 65 on day one, Vilips was there or thereabouts all week, leading into the back nine on Sunday, before being forced to hold off the challenge of Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen to score a three-shot victory.
The win earned Vilips a two-year PGA TOUR exemption, catapulted him into The Players Championship, into a start in the PGA Championship later in the year, and into the PGA TOUR’s limited field signature events, not to mention also depositing a cheque for US$720,000 into his bank account.
After the slip up on 12 in the last round, Vilips would birdie the par four 13th, make further birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, before another birdie on 18 sealed the win.
“The bogey was careless. I was frustrated about that, with a wedge from the fairway I was thinking birdie to give myself a cushion on the leaderboard,” Vilips said. “I had to forget about it, it’s already happened, and you can’t do anything about it. My caddy did a good job getting me back in the present.
“To be able to bounce back was huge for me. It’s pretty special for (a win) to happen so early on,” he added.
As detailed in an Inside Golf profile in the September 2024 edition, Vilips grew up in Melbourne before his family moved to Perth. He would spend the last part of his high school years in the US, then attend Stanford University on a scholarship, where he won the Pac-12 individual title, a significant event on the US college schedule.
Upon graduation, with his PGA TOUR University ranking of 10 earning him conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour, Vilips would win the Utah Championship at just his sixth tournament as a pro, the victory helping to secure membership on the PGA TOUR in 2025.
And now, in just his third event on the PGA TOUR in 2024 (Vilips played the 2023 US Open as an amateur) he is already a winner.
“It’s crazy to me that I graduated from school less than a year ago. The last eight-nine months have just flown by,” he said.
“If you told me less than a year ago when I was at Stanford that I would be a PGA TOUR winner at this point in my career, I think I would be a little surprised.”
While basking in the glory of the biggest triumph of his brief pro career, Vilips reflected on the journey that had taken him from WA, to the US and eventually to Puerto Rico, while acknowledging the support of his family and that of Australian Col Swatton for playing their part in his most recent success.
“I’ve got an amazing team around me, that pushes me and guides me in the right direction to do the right things. And this is the result of that,” Vilips said.
“He (father Paul) has been a huge influence on my life and my golf, pushing me from a young age,” Vilips expressed. “We’ve been going through this together for the last 23 years. He’s been huge in my life.”
As for Swatton, Vilips explained the impact the Queensland coach had made since the pair linked up some four or five years ago.
“I started working with him right before college. My swing wasn’t fundamentally sound before, but I just got the job done on raw talent.
“He was able to make (my swing) consistent, to be able to swing my swing but to also make it technically sound,” Vilips explained.
Following two weeks in Florda, at The Players then at the Valspar event, Vilips was set to rework his playing schedule for 2025, with the victory opening up opportunities for a young man who to some is an overnight sensation, but one that has been 20 years in the making.
The post Vilips – an overnight sensation, 20 years in the making first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia's Most-Read Golf Magazine as named by Australian Golfers - FREE.
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